Eros and the Bees

 

A bee stung Eros on the nose
While he was smelling on a rose
"Mother Venus, ay,ay,ay
Please help me or I’ll die
What a terrible disgrace
A dragon bit me on my face"!
Venus comforts first her son
then speaks to him with mocking fun:
The little bee's tiny sting
Is for you an earnest thing
But more painful and real hard
are your stings in human’s heart

image: A. Dürer, 1514: Eros, Venus and the bees; the poem is from the Anacreonteia